Love: An intense feeling of deep affection. A great interest and pleasure in something.
There’s a lot of love around here. Love for the people we work with, love for the ocean, and most certainly love of fish.
Local Atlantic mackerel is one that really tugs at our heartstrings. It’s beautiful, delicious, and healthful; and we have a particular weakness for underdog fish. Over the last 30 years, the average boat price per pound for mackerel in New England was just $0.21 (most recently, it was $0.28/lb), which isn’t enough for fishermen to justify careful handling and the cost of ice. So, it’s typically sold as bait. Those who share our affection for mackerel cringe at the thought of it being tossed unceremoniously into bait bins. Yet others wince at the thought of eating it. From this latter group, we’ve heard from some recent converts who’ve tasted well-handled mackerel (ours, specifically) in simple preparations by our chef partners. “I didn’t think I liked mackerel!” they exclaim. Well, they do.
And people liking mackerel is important. If just 20% of the mackerel landings in 2017 received food-grade pricing, rather than bait pricing, boats would have received an additional $1.5 million in revenue.
We’re working hard to get more converts because, while the fan base is mighty, it is small. The more mainstream we can make mackerel on the menu, the better chance we’ll have in creating greater value to the boats, keeping them on the water and keeping us in mackerel. We have faith we’ll get there. After all, where there is mackerel, there is love.
